Fr Leo Conlon January 1959 - December 1961 June 1969 - December 1975 is the lightest and longest serving Parish Priest is who joined us on 9th January, 1960 for his first appointment. By now there were four Sunday masses, but we still had a huge debt. Baptisms were running around 50 a year, marriages around 10 or 12 and 6 nuns taught 300 children in the school. A large area of green belt land was released for housing and other development. Catholic 12 population grew to about 1500 (480 families) by 1963, and the church became even more crowded. Fr. Leo administered the Parish in a quiet and unassuming manner. He visited the sick and lonely, listened to anyone's troubles and was always there when needed. He is blessed with an unusual sense of humour; some one has just told him a very funny joke and he is still chuckling. Some times he tells you the punch line but by then it doesn't matter. If Priests are remembered for edifices, his is the one located conveniently between the church and the school.

He halved the debt and sealed part of the school play ground. In the Visitation of 1963 Bishop Muldoon wrote "very conscientious work has been done". The Parish agreed. Early in 1963 he was transferred to the Parish of Medina (now Kwinana) in Perth where he took over from Fr. Gerry Harper who moved to Marsfield taking up his duties on 2nd March 1963. Meanwhile, in 1958 Pope Pius XII died after 19 years in office. He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII who opened the Second Vatican Council of 2540 bishops in October 1962. John XXIII died in June 1963 and was succeeded by Pope Paul VI who continued the work of the Council. Great changes were to shake the Church even in far off Marsfield. On the day Fr. Harper died Fr Conlon was re-appointed to St. Anthony's. He was welcomed as an old friend and started out to meet the new parishioners. There were now about 3000 in the Parish and still growing, baptisms around 80 a year, marriages about 25 a year and the Parish debt was $94,800. The seventies were another decade of growth. Parish population was about 3500 by the mid seventies. The Parish debt was reducing. Many home units and flats were built on north side of Epping Road. The numerous changes of the Second Vatican Council were still filtering down from Rome. Not all were cheerfully accepted. In the early seventies a search party was sent out to try and find any trace of the Six Commandments of the Church, the Green Catechism and the old hymn, "Faith of Our Fathers". It never returned. Fr. Conlon was totally different from his predecessor. One could only admire his ability to move gently into the shoes of a much- loved pastor and suffer with the Parish in the period of adjustment. Tn the period of dramatic change following Vatican 2, he had the foresight to allow people to try new ideas, make new and old mistakes, and then put things right with his never failing sense of humour.